Antarctica, on average, is the coldest, driest, and windiest continent, and has the highest average elevation of all the continents. Antarctica is considered a desert, with annual precipitation of only 200mm (8in) along the coast and far less inland. The temperature in Antarctica has reached −89.2°C (−128.6°F), though the average for the third quarter (the coldest part of the year) is −63°C (−81°F). There are no permanent human residents, but anywhere from 1,000 to 5,000 people reside throughout the year at the research stations scattered across the continent. Organisms native to Antarctica include many types of algae, bacteria, fungi, plants, protista, and certain animals, such as mites, nematodes, penguins, seals and tardigrades. Vegetation, where it occurs, is tundra.

Plot

In 1993, Jerry Shepard (Paul Walker) is a guide at an Antarctica research base under contract with the National Science Foundation. UCLA professor, Dr. Davis McClaren (Bruce Greenwood), arrives at the base. He presses Shepard to take him to Mount Melbourne to attempt to find a rare meteorite from the planet Mercury. Shepard does so, ignoring his own intuition, which tells him it is too late in the season to complete such a treacherous route, and decides that the only way to get to Mount Melbourne is by dog sled.

Antarctica, on average, is the coldest, driest, and windiest continent, and has the highest average elevation of all the continents. Antarctica is considered a desert, with annual precipitation of only 200mm (8in) along the coast and far less inland. The temperature in Antarctica has reached −89.2°C (−128.6°F), though the average for the third quarter (the coldest part of the year) is −63°C (−81°F). There are no permanent human residents, but anywhere from 1,000 to 5,000 people reside throughout the year at the research stations scattered across the continent. Organisms native to Antarctica include many types of algae, bacteria, fungi, plants, protista, and certain animals, such as mites, nematodes, penguins, seals and tardigrades. Vegetation, where it occurs, is tundra.

Other bans have occurred in Norway and Antarctica... Hurtigruten, with 17 ships, is one of the world’s largest expedition cruise operators and sails primarily in environmentally sensitive areas such as the Norwegian fiords, the Arctic and Antarctica....

Leftover dead fish from Norway’s large fishing industry will be mixed with other organic waste to make a liquified biogas to be used instead of heavy fuel oil, said Hurtigruten, which runs cruises to the Arctic and Antarctica, among other locations....

The classroom-favorite scientist cited several reasons as to why inhabiting the planet will never happen, including its Antarctica-like temperatures and lack of life-sustaining resources. Click here to continue and read more... ....

China has announced plans to build an airfield in Antarctica amid warnings that the communist nation is laying groundwork for a claim on the frozen continent’s vast natural resources... “Antarctica — rich in resources and, from China’s perspective, with unresolved sovereignty — is extremely important to the Chinese Government.”....

SYDNEY, Oct ...Despite the incredible amount technology and resources that are put into space programs and scientific research projects in remote places like Antarctica, Ayton admits there's still not a lot known about how best to deal with teams in extreme environments ... ....

What struck Wang Wen about Antarctica, beyond the brutality of the December cold, was the scale of US operations in such an inhospitable environment and the American flag fluttering by the sign that marks the geographic South Pole... An ice sheet with a mean depth of 1.6 miles (2.6 kilometers) has protected Antarctica’s resources from exploration....